FHWA REPORTS ROAD CONSTRUCTION COSTS FOR FOURTH QUARTER OF 1999

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today announced that highway construction costs increased 9.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 1999 as compared to the third quarter of 1999 and 9.7 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 1998.

The fourth quarter raised the FHWA's composite index for highway construction costs to 144.1 percent of the 1987 base index (1987 average costs equal 100 percent).

Increases in the unit prices for portland cement concrete, structural steel, and structural concrete raised the index in the fourth quarter. There were decreases in the unit prices for common excavation, bituminous concrete and reinforcing steel.

The three-quarter moving composite price index for the third quarter of 1999 - obtained by combining data for the last three quarters of 1999 - increased 3.2 percent from the previous three-quarter average.

Trends in highway construction costs are measured by an index of average contract prices compiled from reports of state highway contract awards for federal-aid contracts greater than $500,000. Since the enactment of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, the index reflects federal-aid contracts on the National Highway System.

The composite price indices during the past two years and the percentage changes from the preceding quarter have been as follows:

The price levels of the component items of the quarterly index in the 4th quarter of 1999, the previous quarter, and the same quarter a year ago, and the corresponding percentage changes, are shown in the following table:

The price levels of the current component items of the three-quarter moving index in the 3rd quarter of 1999, the previous quarter, and the same quarter a year ago, and the corresponding percentage changes, are shown in the following table:

The U.S. average contract unit prices for the index items during the various periods shown are: